#MonthOfSpooks – Inside

Another of the new wave of extreme French cinema (after Haute Tension and Martyrs), A L’Interieur (Inside) tells the simple tale of a pregnant woman who has lost her husband in a car crash and is now under threat from an unknown intruder in her own home. We see Sarah alienating herself from friends and family and all this just before the baby is due. It is Christmas eve, the day before going back to the hospital to have the baby, and Sarah is all alone in her empty home when she gets an unexpected intruder.

This is another interesting take on the home invasion horror sub-genre, it is great that the oppressor was female, which isn’t seen very often. Also great that they were both fighters, both resourceful and the men in this were often out-thought and out-fought.

Violent, gore-filled, blood-soaked, unrelenting action abound in this film, it is definitely not for the faint of heart! The way this film goes about its business leaves you shaken and demoralised as the threat and violence just keeps on coming. Towards the end there is a nice reveal and, to give it credit, it actually had me wincing at one point, not believing what was happening on the screen. No small feat it seems!

The style and budget was minimal but it didn’t need to be big or lavish . The location was pretty much just in the house with a few extras pegged on, the effects were really quite good: blood splatter was realistic and the injuries sustained looked realistic and really painful and the deaths were varied and, more importantly for this film, brutal.

This extreme French genre of films has brought about the biggest reaction of all the films watched this month. With this and with Martyrs too, another no nonsense film, they are pushing the boundaries and provoking a reaction. Not for the squeamish!